Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-03-03
THE ALPS n WINTER.
AN ENGLISHmAN CROSSING BY THE
ALBULA FASS IN A STORM.
"A Undertaking That Called for All the
skill Of an Experienced Guide-FaII
over ~ Prscipice--An Almost Miracu-
lou. Escape.

but impossible To get through them. As
| persisted in my determination however.
| at length succeeded i'll obtaining the serv-
ices "f Il sturdy peasant who knew every
inch OF IN" route and who was tempted by
the liberal fee | offered him. We left
Berguu soon after II with "a well stocked
knapsack of provisions. including a bottle
. of old brandy. An hour later the sky had
Clpuded over. the sun had quite disap-
peaIed and little wreaths of powdery
snow filed the air
hs wc approached the majestic and ter
riliC TcUfeisthal the snow thickened and
fell in large. cOmpac; flakes. while the
gust of deadly wind came up with IA roar
from the awful ravine where the Albula
thUnder> in it, rocky bed 800 feet below
the roadway. The whole landscape was
obilteratcd, and it was impossible to see
half Il dozen yards ahead. The road itself
was entirely lost, but the guide, with un-
errlng instinct, traced the way, Gleverly
avoiding the precipiCes and the drifts,
though now and again we found ourselves
struggling mp to the waist in soft accu-
mutations on the road itself. BY the time
we had painfully foile1 up to the well
known stone bridge which spans the awful
rayinc. the wind was blowing a gale
while the snow was binding. We came
within an ace Of plunging down into the
rocky Chasm; for the snow was level
with the parapet OF ihr bridge, over
which it curled in IA great cornice.
4 PERILOUs UNDERTAKING
Here, for the first time perhaps, we
fully realized the hazardous nature of the
undertaking. But To turn back was ont
uf the question. as that would have been
even worse than going on. From the
bridge the road is carried over the face Of
Il ~luPendous precipice. and thence de
houCheS on tD an extensive plain. Before
opening upon the plain the defile is ex-
ceedingly narrow. and through this the
wind swept with such terrific force, and
WIS SU charged with compact snow, that
six different times We're we driven back
into the shelter of the projecting rocks
that hr"ke the force of the cruel blasts
At length. taking advantage Of a lull. We
forced the passage and gained the open.
| confess that here | almost lost heart.
The icy wind seemed to blow clean through
one. and 1t stuug the exposed parts of the
face like whip cords All around appeared
to br "A solid wall Of snow. The flakes
Were aS large aS five shilling pieces, and
almost blinded one Conversation was out
of the question, for it was was impossible
|
quircd To make progress at all was ex-
CCedingly cXhauSting
No one who hadn't been born among
these mountains and who had not spent a
lifetime in such deSoiate regions could
possibly have found his way and must in
evltably have persisted. But nv guide,
| with one or two exceptions. never once
seemed 10 90 astray. For myself. | fol-
| lowed III his tracks mechanically. | was
| numbed and drowSy, and he had the ap-
pearance To me of Il white specter only
| dmiy seen Although by the hour there
| should have been plenty of daylight the
| air was darkened 10y Il thick SNOW, and |
| began Ia very seriously doubt whether IL
| WAS at all possible to reach our destina-
| Iiun. The guide had similar thoughts foI
| soon after he stopped aud shouted in nv
| eaI that there was a shepherds hut some
| where about there, and ii would be as
| we'll to try and find it and shelter in it for
| the night. | readily acquiesced in this
! proposal, and we turned of at an angle
and forged ahead for about a quarter of
IN hour, when, with startling suddenness.
~" guide disappeared-where | knew not
| only knew that he had gone ont of nv
vision. and | was left alone in that ghastly
| region Of death, with the appalling roar
of the wind and the river laundering in
my ears.
OVER \ PEECIPTCE.
stood for a moment and shouted but
my voice was drowned by the wind. and
scarcely heard it myself. determined to
try aud discover what had become ot NV
companion. and render him assistance, if
needed. And -, like a blind man crop
ing along. advanced cautiously. probing
the snow with my alpenstOck but sud. Ell
ly any feet seemed to 90 from under me
and felt myself falling through the air
The next thing that | was conscious If
was that ] was buried in the snow and
WAS sutfocating. raised my hands with
some difficulty and cleared the snow from
my mouth and was then able tn breathe.
The next moment heard voice very close
To- me. and never in all my life have heard
anything that sounded so welcome as did
that human voice in that awful moment
of deadly peril. managed IT, turn round
and saw about yard away the head and
shoulders of my companion. The situation
WIS clear now; We had plunged over a
precipiCe about ten feet and fallen into "A
soft snow drift I'VE must get ont Of
this Immediately" he said calmly. "or
were dead men" He had retained pos
S'~Si'li VI anu nt gave HE
one end of it, and by this means. hut only
with great difficulty, he was enabled to
eXtricate himself We fortified ourselves
with n strong dose of brandy, and he then
pulled me out and we scrambled by the
aid of some bushes to the road again.
The cold was increasing, night was COM
ing on. and the snow was thickening. We
Were alone in that stern wilderness, and
at any moment we might topple over some
precipice. or, failing that, sink from ex-
hauStiOn in the snow and be frozen TO
death. II we could only have got shelter
from the deadly wind, things would not
nave been So bad For. apart from the
distressing sense Of uumbneSs il produced,
ii SwIrled the snow around us and made
breathing most difficult. One had To take
in the air in .saSps. as il were. and at in
tervals. when the force of the blasts less
ened. For two and half weary hours We
struggled on. Ii was a sheer struggle Of
physical strength against the forces of
nature, and the slightest failure of that
strength would have sealed our doom At
length. witt startling SuddenneSs, my
companion IL tered Il JOYFUL Zodei His
quick eyes had seen what mine had not
friendly Cluam uf light stream
ing from one of the little windows Of the
lonely hnsl,ce "u the summit. The people
Of he hospice heard the shout and came out
with lantern to welcome us. They were
naturally surprised ut our appearance,
and as we entered the room, where huge
iron stove diifuSed genial warmth. | felt
that Ne had come out of white world of
death into the living, hrcathing atmos-
,i,ar, # ,f.n hatx